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Sunday smorgasbord: The St. Louis Rams selected Missouri defensive end Michael Sam in the seventh — and final — round of the NFL draft Saturday. That choice is significant because he is the first openly gay player drafted. The early returns from St. Louis have his Rams jersey a hot ticket. Whether Sam actually will sell tickets would depend on his making the team. As a St. Louis native and a University of Missouri alum, your humble correspondent hopes Sam is a success in the NFL. He already is in life.
Well, Loop Rock Girl Shannon might create some football interest.
* Speaking of life, happy Mother’s Day to any and all to whom Sunday’s observance might apply. The analytics department at ElliottHarris.com has determined that more than 95 percent of those who peruse this site have — or at one point had — mothers.
* Speaking of the departed (or departing), if Chicago Cubs right-hander Jeff Samardzija continues his masterful pitching, the Cubs might end up asking too much for him in any sort of trade. Samardzija’s latest effort was a six-inning performance: no runs, two hits, one walk, seven strikeouts. On the bright(?) side, he didn’t take the loss in a 2-0 decision in Atlanta. Season earned-run average: 1.45. Zero victories.
* Elias Sports reports Samardzija is the first pitcher in modern Major League Baseball history to start a season by allowing three or fewer runs in each of his first eight starts and not record a victory. Not to worry, Cubs fans. Sooner or later, he will allow more than three runs.
* Reaction to Sam’s selection elicited several favorable responses at various social media sites. President Barack Obama said in a statement praising Sam, the Rams and the NFL: “From the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove everyday that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are.” Of course, there was the obligatory backlash by some folks who wondered why the president would take time to make mention of Sam’s being drafted. To those folks and anyone else who happens to share such sentiments, feel free to wail against the evolution of society. Oh, sorry; those are the folks who typically don’t believe in evolution, aren’t they?
* As one who does not pay particular attention to the NFL draft, yours truly found it interesting that the Chicago Bears did draft a Vereen and a Leno, while the Green Bay Packers picked Richard Rodgers. Sadly, not Ben Vereen and Jay Leno. And Hammerstein is not coming out of retirement to play for the Packers.
* The Bears also picked a player named Ego. If Bears general manager Phil Emery could find two others named Id and Super Ego, I’d nominate him for Executive of the Year. No, make that Executive of the Decade at the very least.
* Any media member assigning a letter grade to a team’s draft performance ought to receive an “F” — unless the grade is “incomplete.” Unless that media member can show where his/her previous assessments for the last five drafts were accurate.
* Ex-White Sox of the night: Arizona’s Addison Reed recorded the save, even though he did allow a run in the Diamondbacks’ 4-3 victory vs. the Sox. Bonus points for helping beat your former employer. Reed’s 4.34 ERA is not particularly impressive, but having saves in 11 of Arizona’s 14 victories is.
* Speaking of the Sox, Paul Konerko did hit his first home run of the season. He has one homer in 39 at-bats, meaning he is one homer behind Dayan Viciedo (125 at-bats) Tyler Flowers (106) and Gordon Beckham (64). Guessing those numbers probably don’t make Sox fans feel too good about the team’s overall power package.
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